The Last Post review BBC One ★★★★★

It's jarring when an actor is in two TV dramas that air at the same time. This week, the BBC has enjoyed watching Stephen Campbell Moore as a severely depressed MP in A Child in Time and now he's back, again on BBC One, as a severely depressed military man in The Last Post. One of them is worth watching. The other one is The Last Post.

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The BBC has a way of recycling actors it likes. Far away from England's green and pleasant land, set in the extremely hostile Aden in modern day Yemen – in a camp of military police who keep the peace in desert fatigues – is a cast of BBC actors you'll recognise from other shows.

In 1965 at the height of insurgency against British occupation, The Last Post follows the story of Captain Joe Martin (Jeremy Neumark Jones) and his brand new bride Honour (Jessie Buckley from War and Peace). They arrive at the camp to find Alison Laithwaite (Jessica Raine from Call the Midwife) drunk in their bed.

Alison's husband has been passed over for a promotion. He persists in trying to understand the Arab-speaking locals, against orders, and makes himself increasingly unpopular. Alison has a pretty low regard for those wedding vows she made years ago.

Fizzling with sexual tension, exploring the lives of military police women and children and set against a background of nasty politics and frightening guerrilla insurgencies.

Even the acting is a little over-blown – which is a real shame. You might hope that they'd have had enough practice by now.